what godlessness gets you

They have neither knowledge nor understanding,

they walk about in darkness;

all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

Psalm 82:5

A lost world is truly lost. It is so sad. Those without Christ who live in a godless fashion in this world are not to be envied. In this psalm of lament which starts out complaining that it seems as if God does nothing to halt injustice and actually the world seems to favor the wicked (Psalm 82:2), we see a turn toward observing the real situation. It is the worldly system that is broken. We are observing what is warped and imperfect and we are frustrated by the brokenness. God is still quite in control. We can witness the godless reaping their own destruction in due time. They are doomed in four ways in this passage.

First, they have no knowledge. They have not even the remotest awareness of God, or that they are precariously held in judgment by God. They are not familiar with His ways or His Word. This is not just ignorance though. It is a willful rejection of what they can see and know, believing instead the lies of sin, self, and the world that Satan has imposed on the system to draw us from God.

Secondly, they have no understanding. They may have heard of God and His ways, but refuse to accept and personally apply themselves in submission to Him. They are then spiritually stupid, making unwise commitments to evil that dooms them. There is no way true wisdom can guide those who reject God.

Next, they have no light. They walk in darkness. Without the Word of God and the Spirit of God to guide us, we are all born in spiritual blindness. We do not know it until God draws us to see Him. And even then many will recoil from the light to again stumble into a dark, Christless life and eternity.

Finally, they have no stability. Selfish worldviews and sinful lifestyles will be shaken by God. He does this to get the attention of the wicked. It is an act of love to draw them to reconsider. Sands shift under the feet that do not stand on the Solid Rock. And the collapse of so many around us should compel us all to be moved to offer them the gospel so that in repentance and faith lives can be stabilized in the ever sure, ever solid, ever rebuilding grace of God in Christ!